After a meeting of its emergency committee on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency also said there is increasing evidence that a spike in disturbing birth defects and neurological problems are caused by Zika, which is mostly spread by mosquito bites. When WHO declared the explosive outbreak in the Americas to be a global emergency last month, it said that the evidence that Zika was responsible was only circumstantial.

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said "reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed." The U.S. is investigating more than a dozen possible cases of Zika in people who may have been infected through sex.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is directing WHO's response to Zika, said the cases seen so far of sexual transmission of Zika have been from men to women. He doubted sex would play an important role in the disease's spread.

"The mosquito is undoubtedly still the main driver of transmission," he said.

Chan also said nine countries have now reported increasing cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare condition that may be linked to Zika and can cause temporary paralysis and death in people of all ages. She said that problems connected to Zika, including Guillain-Barre syndrome, are now being seen not just in women of child-bearing age, but children, teenagers and older adults.

Zika is also now spreading to new countries, WHO said. It noted local transmission has now been reported in 31 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

President Donald Trump and top Republicans will promise a package of sweeping tax cuts for companies and individuals, the Washington Post reports, but the GOP leaders will stop short of labeling many of the tax breaks they hope to strip away, putting off controversial decisions that threaten to sink the party's tax …

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